Reefing sails



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. S. G. MARTIN. KEEPING SAILS.

Patented Oct. 9,1894.

/ N VE N TOR A TTOHNEYS.

(No Model.)

s. G. MARTIN.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

KEEPING SAILS.

Patented Oct. 9,1894.

\i Q p H! NORM: PETERS ca, momumou wAsn NGTON u c INVENTOH I I '21 M (No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet a. S. G. MARTIN.

REBPING SAILS. No. 527,340. Patented 0011.9, 1894.

WITNESSES. /NVENTOH A TTOHNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

SAMUEL GIMARTIN, OF BRANCHPORT, NEW JERSEY. I I

REEFING SAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,340, dated October 9, 1894. Application filed March 14, 1894. Serial No- 503,600- (No model.)

that when occasion may demand the said sail may be expeditiously and conveniently converted into a storm trysail, and as readily restored to its original shape.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the ifore-and-aft sail may be conveniently reefed, and when reefed fold regularly upon the boom and be held in that position until the reef points may be fastened, and whereby further when the reef tackle is manipulated the mast hoops at the heel of the sail will be hauled down simultaneously and evenly with the furling of the sail cloth, thus dispensing with the services of a man as an attendant at the hoops.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the fore-and-aft sail that it will be provided with an auxiliary leech rope located above the upper tier of reef points, whereby when the sail is roofed to its utmost capacity or in a manner to convert it into a trysail, the sail will draw from the said auxiliary leech, and likewise to provide the sail witha second auxiliary leech, which will form the upper leechrope of the trysail.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views. 1

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sloop the main sail of which is constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lower aft portion of the mainsail,jillustratin g the application thereto of the improved reef tackle. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the entire lower portion of a main sail fully hoisted and illustrating the application of the reef tackle thereto.- Fig. 4 is a view shown in Fig. 1.

similar to Fig. 3, the sail, however, being illustrated as reefed to the second or upper reef; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a sloop, illustrating the main sail reefed and converted into a trysail.

In carrying out the invention the improved fore-and-aft sail A, which is the main sail of a sloop, is illustrated in the drawings as pro vided with a stay rope 10, extending from the aft leech to the forward leech transversely across the sail, being secured thereto in any approved manner at a point preferably just above the uppertier of, or second reef points, the inner end of the said stay being firmly attached to the mast hoop 10, which hoop is made stronger than the other hoops, since that hoop is adapted to be drawn downward as the sail is fully rooted, the

action of the gaff not being required to promote the run of the rings down the mast when a sail of this character is to be reefed. The stay rope 10, is adapted to act in the capacity of a bottom leech of the sail, both when the sail has been reefed sufficiently to bring said rope down over the boom or when the sail is to be used as a storm trysail, and

the fore-and-aft sail may be converted readily into a storm trysail by the addition of a second stay rope 11, which extends from the upper inner corner of the sail, or that pointimmediately beneath the jaw of the gaff diagonally downward across the sail to the second reef cringle 12, or to its junction with the outer end of the lower stay rope 10, as is fully The upperor diagonal stay rope 11 is secured to the sail in any suitable or approved manner.

In addition to the second reef cringle 12 the usual first reef cringle 13 is also employed; and in addition tothese two cringles two auxiliary ones are used, one cringlelet being located between the cringles of the first and second reefs, while the other cringle 15, is located between the bottom of the sail and the first reef cringle. These cringles are adapted to receive the reefing gear, or reef pennants B, the same consisting of two ropes 16 and 17, located one at each side of the sail, both of the ropes being secured to the boom 18, preferably by attachment to a sleeve or collar 19 secured upon said boom. These ropes 16 and 17 are led upward through the second reef cringle and arethen carried down- Ward through the intermediate and first reef cringles, and through a suitable block 20, secured upon the boom near its outer end. The

( two ropes are then led one at each side of the boom, and are preferably jointed together to form an eye 21 A down-haul O is likewise employed, which down-haul consists ofa rope 22, which is passed through two apertures made in the thicker mast hoop 10*, and the two strands of the rope are then carried down parallel with the mast and through suitable apertures in the jaw of the boom, being made to terminate at their lower ends usually in'an eye 23, as shown best in Fig- 3. The downhaul and the reefing gear or reef pennants areconnected, when a sail is to be reefed, through the medium of a reef tackle D,'comprising two blocks 24 and 25, one connected with the eye 21 of the reef pennants and the other with the eye of the down-haul, the intermediate tackle being of usual arrangement, and its free end is secured to any given support, preferably to a pin or its equivalent on the boom at or near the jaws of the boom.

When the sail is to be fully reefed, or reefed for example, at the second reef, the throat and peak halyards are operated in the usual manner, and the reef tackle is drawn inboard at the same time, whereupon the reef tackles in passing inboard will draw downward and furl smoothly the sail upon the boom, while at the same time the down-haul C will be drawn sternward, and the mast hoops including and below the larger hoop 10 in alignment with the second reef, will be simultaneously and correspondingly drawn down to the jaw provided with a first and second reef cringle and cringles intermediate thereof, of reef j pennants adapted for attachment to the boom andpassed upward through the second reef of the boom, thus causing the sail to furl evenly upon the boom, and dispensing with the services of a man to assist the hoops in sliding down the mast; and when the sailhas been thus reefed the reefed pennant will have bound the sail at its outer end firmly upon the boom, and the transverse stay rope 10 will be immediately above the boom, and the sail will pull from that rope, which will act at that time in the capacity of the bottom leech.

In the event of stress of Weather rendering the. use of a storm trysail advisable, the sail may be instantly converted into such by dropping the peak and lowering the gaff until the gaff shall have assumed the position shown in Fig. 5, parallel with, or substantially parallel with, the diagonal stay rope 11, which in this instance will serve as the upper leech for the sail.

It is evident that the sail may be restored to its normal position, and that the reefs may be shaken out in an expeditious manner by simply casting off or paying out the reefing tackle D, and manipulating the throat and peakhalyards;

It will be readily understood that although the invention is shown as applied to the sails of a sloop, it is equally applicable to those of a schooner or any vessel carrying fore and aft sails.

Having thus described my invention, I

- claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The combination, with a fore-and-aft sail provided with a first and second reef cringle and cringles intermediate thereof, reef pennants adapted to be attached to the boom,

passed through said cringles and to extend inboard,a down-haul adapted to be attached to a mast hoop, located substantially in alignment with the second reef cringle, and a reefing tackle connecting the reef pennants and down-haul, whereby both are operated simultaneously, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with a fore-and-aft sail provided with a first and a second reef cringle and cringles intermediate thereof, of reef pennants adapted for attachment to the-boom, passed upward through the second reef cringle and downward through the other cringles, a stay rope attached to the sail, extending transversely thereof from the second reef cringle to an attachment with the mast hoop,

a down-haul attached to the mast hoop and connected with the stay rope, and a reefing tackle connected with the down-haul and with the reef pennants, whereby both are simultaneously operated, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a fore-and-aft sail cringle and downward through the other cringles, a stay rope attached to the sail, ex-

, tending transversely thereof from the second I reef cringle to an attachment with a mast hoop, a down-haul attached to the mast hoop, connected with the stay rope, a reefing tackle connected with the down-haul and with the reef pennants, whereby both are simultaneously operated, and a second diagonal stay SAMUEL G. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

J. FRED. ACKER, F. W. HANAFORD. 

